Jina Reyes could always offer a hand to raise people up or simply lift the mood in darker times, family and friends said.
Several dozen community members gathered Sunday around a fire at Haskell Indian Nations University to celebrate Reyes’ life. The rain stopped just long enough to get a good fire going.
Reyes, a 35-year-old mother to a daughter and a son, and a member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, was found dead with multiple stab wounds behind the former VFW building in the 1800 block of Massachusetts Street Friday morning. Police arrested a suspect in connection with her death the same day.
Melissa Woehler, Reyes’ mother, said she’d had concerns about Reyes throughout her life, but she never would’ve imagined that she would be killed.
“Jina was a great person. She had a huge heart,” Woehler told those standing in a circle around the fire, to wide agreement.
“I have all kinds of stuff going on in my head,” Woehler said later. “Why did it happen to her?”
Friends from various times in Reyes’ life were in attendance. Many, including her sister Melinda Mitchell, said Reyes was their first friend, in life or in a new situation.
They described her as stubborn, strong-willed and wild, but big-hearted, comforting, and like a sister. And she could draw beautifully, they said.
Many in attendance Sunday shared memories of Reyes, often drawing sad laughter through the tears. There were lots of laughs and few dull moments when Reyes was around, according to those who spoke.
“She could just always lift up your mood,” Hope Thommen said. “She just had a jolliness about her.”
Rochelle Moore, Reyes’ sister, said Reyes “got knocked down a lot with her struggles, but she always tried to get back up.
“I know that she was hard-headed at times, but that was Jina,” Moore said. “Jina had her own personality, and that’s what drew most of us to her.”
Moore said Reyes’ life was taken from her, but the time that she did have with them all said a lot about the person she was.
“She was life, and that’s how I’m gonna remember her,” Moore said. “She fought hard, and she brought a lot of life.”
“She had a character that nobody else could match,” Maria Woehler-McCrabb, Reyes’ sister, said.
Leona Antoine, Siċaƞġu Lak̇ot̄a, said she has been taught that when someone dies, throughout the first four days after, they travel everywhere they had gone in their lives from birth to death.
“So for those of you who’ve interacted with Jina, she’s going to come and visit in the next four days,” Antoine said. “Be open to her.”
Antoine said Reyes won’t be gone, but she is going on a new journey to the other side.
“The relationship is still going to be there,” Antoine said. “It’s just going to look different.”
Antoine passed around tobacco for people to place into the fire in Reyes’ honor. She said different tribes do things different ways, and that people were welcome to ask questions.
“We just have to remember we weren’t raised with the ways that our Ancestors were, so we’re teaching,” Antoine said.
Antoine also shared some wasná, which is dried meat and dried berries with a little bit of fat. She said it was a common part of the diet, and now it’s used often in ceremonies.
Antoine reminded people to make sure they’re eating and drinking water — “sometimes you forget to nourish yourself,” she said.
The family has created an online fundraiser to assist with Reyes’ funeral and burial as they were not prepared for the unexpected costs. That can be found at gofundme.com/f/help-us-honor-jinas-memory.
Reyes is survived by her daughter, son, parents, three sisters, a brother and numerous other relatives, according to her obituary.
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Mackenzie Clark (she/her), reporter/founder of The Lawrence Times, can be reached at mclark@lawrencekstimes.com. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
Molly Adams (she/her), photo editor, has worked with The Lawrence Times since May 2022. She can be reached at molly@lawrencekstimes.com.
Check out more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
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